Pedersoli Jaeger Hunter Gun Stock

It’s been a while since I’ve posted. Hope you are all well. I’ve seen some nice projects. Keep ‘em coming.

Here’s a Pedersoli, ‘Jaeger Hunter’, Hawkin replica flintlock that my friend asked me to make look “This side of Gaudy”. Now I’m not sure where “gaudy” is, never mind this side of it. So I figured he wanted me to cover it with carving but be tasteful. The hard part was designing the elements. I have a pile of scroll carving and architectural illustration books so I just highlighted my favorite sections and let the owner look through them for his likes and dislikes. Traditional musket carvings are rough and crude. Some are delicate and elegant. I was going for the latter. I also added a feature to these carvings where they have a three dimensional look to them. I gave some of the scrolls a depth by carving a skew view showing the side edge of the element. It looked good. I also needed a nice design for behind and around the barrel’s tang. It was days with no inspiration then I woke up one day from a nights sleep and poof, there it was, clearly in my mind. I quickly sketched it so I wouldn’t forget it. It’s beautiful. Thank you, God. There’s also a feather like pattern along the entire length of the barrel you can barely see.

Most of the carving is no deeper than 1/8”. In many places it’s a 1/16th. I mostly used micro chisels and small Pfeil gouges. (#5×3mm, #1×5mm, #3×5mm, and #5 and #9×5mm) Matching the element’s curves with tools for stop cuts was the most critical. To blend the carving in with the rest of the stock body I used a #3×1/2” wide and a nice wood file.

Sanding sucked. I hate sanding. It was tedious as all hell. All those real small places to get into? I had to buy a few small jewelers files (#00, 2, and 4 half rounds). I also had to devise a few small sanding sticks to reach the real small areas. The fingernail emery boards in various grits, cut to shapes, were key. I mostly used the 100, 180 and 240 grits with a final sanding with a 400 grit.

I consulted quite a few gun makers around the country and they all recommended stripping the entire rifle and use a Permalyn sealer. I followed their advice and was quickly ticked. It had a glossy finish which highlighted my mulligans. A 0000 steel wool was recommended to dull down the finish but that stuff is useless around finely carved areas. After 7 coats of the sealer, I went with old reliable: 4 more coats of Minwax, exterior, satin Polyurethane spray. It worked great and saved my ass.

This is some of my best designs. One gun maker suggested I remove the carving from the cheek piece. But I checked it out and you barely feel the carving when it’s against your face so there was no way I was going to cut off all that nice work. I do love the outcome. The owner lets me take this to gun shows to market my skills and get some work. Now I just need the time to do this to a gun of my own. :)

The ram rod holders are referred to as thimbles. Typically on period, or built to period spec firearms they are held in with pins. If you look closely at picture #1 you will see a pin that is holding the trigger guard.

Nice. You obviously have a lot of patience. Personally, I would have stayed with an original build and used linseed oil or BLO, or, at least, Birchwood-Casey’s Linspeed finish. Nevertheless, a great job!